> the gear broke ... bad quality wood ... material was MDF Try something better? > It's vital to use good plywood for the gears. Ordinary spruce or fir plywoo

> the gear broke ... bad quality wood ... material was MDF Try something better? > It's vital to use good plywood for the gears. Ordinary spruce or fir plywood has layers that are too coarse, and the wood is not strong enough. But the Baltic birch plywood, with thin birch layers throughout, makes for an excellent material https://woodgears.ca/gear/howto.html https://woodgears.ca/gear/howto.html